TWO

She was blushing profusely at her reflection in the mirror. She had been trying different outfits and asking Maddie for advice on what she would wear. Knowing Maddie and her belief that she should be get laid tonight, her friend chose the most revealing dress among the few she owned.

The plunging neckline of the dress showed the sides of her breasts and her exposed back made her shiver because of the cold.

"You're going to be undressed later, anyway," said Maddie making her blush even more. She dropped the call and calmed herself down. What's more embarrassing is the fact that she wore the lingerie Maddie was talking about. She kept reminding herself that nothing will happen tonight and she cursed the fact that she was anticipating something to happen.

What's wrong if I want to look seductive and sexy?

It's not every day that she gets to wear these kinds of clothes. Sighing, she moved away from the mirror and sat on the bed. The clock plastered on the wall says it's still half-past six. She groaned inwardly about how time flies too slow. She still has thirty minutes to wait. Her aunt might come back any minute now. She prayed her aunt won't come home early tonight.

The worst possible thing that could happen is for her to be mistreated by her aunt and Reid seeing it when he arrives to pick her up. She doesn't want Reid to know.

So she waited anxiously. She was even tempted to tell him to pick her up earlier but she doesn't want to seem too demanding. It's their first date and she's hella nervous. She had lost count of how many times she had paced inside her room, waiting for that familiar car to arrive.

It was quarter to seven when she heard someone at their front door. She didn't need to come down to know who it was. She knows it's her aunt. Sighing, she waited inside her room as she heard the footsteps coming up. She braced herself as her door swung open and she saw it wasn't her aunt. It was an unfamiliar man.

She was quick on her feet as the man welcomed himself inside. He's probably one of her aunt's boyfriends.

"What are you doing here?" she asked. She stepped back near the window, grabbing for something she could use against the man should he do something wrong.

"I was with Melissa. She's in the kitchen," the man said. It did not escape her eyes how his eyes traveled from her face down to her skimpy dress. "Going somewhere?" he asked. She gritted her teeth.

"Get out of my room and go back to the kitchen before I hit your head with this," she lifted the baseball bat she picked up near her window. But the man didn't seem fazed by it. Instead, he walked closer. His eyes were still looking at her exposed skin and she got the urge to bash his head with something harder than a baseball bat.

"I'm warning you," she said. The man stopped walking towards her and that's when his eyes went back to her face.

"You can't hurt me with that," he said.

Her grasp tightened around the bat. "Try me, old man."

And then everything happened so fast. One moment the man was a few meters away from her and the next moment, he was holding her wrists. He was pulling her close to him and worse, she dropped the baseball bat. It fell with a thud.

The man's arms snaked around her waist as she thrashed and screamed.

"Help me!" she said but his hands were quick to cover her mouth. She is not going to let this filthy man touch her any further. She bit his hand as hard as she could and the man screamed, loosening his hold on her. With all her strength, she pushed him away. He stumbled and fell to the floor with a grunt.

She quickly moved and picked up the bat she dropped earlier but when she tried to hit him with it, he stopped it with one hand. In an instant, the man was already on his feet.

"Aunt Melissa!" she screamed but the man just grinned.

"Your aunt passed out. Too much whiskey," he said and grinned. He pulled the baseball bat from her grasp and threw it on her bed. He then fumbled on his jeans much to her horror.

"Now, be a good and quiet girl--"

She did not wait for him to finish what he was saying and she bolted straight to the door. She heard him run after her but she did not look back. She ran down the stairs until she reached the kitchen. The knife was so close to her grasp when she felt hands grabbing her waist and pushing her away. She groaned in pain when her back hit the side of the counter.

She was about to stand and run towards the door when she felt her scalp sting. The man was grabbing a handful of her hair. Her dress hiked up to her waist and the man was staring at her exposed leg.

"Look at you, slut. Are you about to get laid somewhere?" he asked and yanked her head back. Tears were already streaming down her cheeks. She could feel the man's breath on her cheek and she whimpered as he slapped her cheeks. She could have sworn she tasted blood inside her mouth.

"This wouldn't have happened if you just behaved," he said and dragged her across the floor while grabbing her hair. She screamed in pain and she continued to thrash and kick but it was no use. The man was a lot stronger.

She was crying, screaming, but nobody seems to hear her pleas for help. She looked at her aunt who was sleeping on the couch, oblivious of what was happening around her. The man threw her on the couch and started to fumble with his jeans. But she is not going down without a fight. She grabbed the lamp on the table and hit the man's head with it. He grunted in pain but it was only quick. She felt another slap on her other cheek and this time, she could really taste blood. She saw it dripping on the sofa too.

"You btch," he said, and then she felt another slap on her other cheek.

She was getting weak. Her head felt like it had been hit by a rock. Her vision is turning black. The man was standing in front of her and for a moment she thought it would be the end of her. But then she saw her aunt waking up. She called for her name and her aunt looked at her and then at the man in front of her. Much to her surprise, her aunt just leaned back on the sofa and rubbed the bridge of her nose.

"Damn it, Rudy," she said. "I thought you said you'll be quick about it."

Then it all dawned on her. She thought her aunt was going to help her. But she was wrong. She might have been the one who told Rudy to do this to her.

"I thought it would be quick but she's not making it quick for me." Rudy pointed in her direction. She met her aunt's glare.

"What are you on about? Just let him do what he wants to do and then he'll leave." She couldn't believe what she was hearing from her aunt's mouth.

"You...You're the one who told him to do this to me?" she asked but her aunt just waved a dismissive hand in her direction.

"He was willing to pay a generous amount just to taste you," she said and when she looked at the man, he was grinning from ear to ear.

She looked at her aunt again and she knew her aunt wasn't joking when she said it.

"You are not going to get away with this," she said. "I swear it on my life. You will never get away with this."

Her aunt's brows furrowed at what she said but stood and looked at the man. While their attention was occupied, she secretly grabbed a small figurine from the table.

"Rudy is going to enjoy you," her aunt said when she was looking at her. Melissa was about to walk away when they heard a knock on their door.

Reid.

She did not hesitate and bashed the figurine on the old man's head. Her hand bled at the shards of glass as the figuring broke but that was the least of her concern. She has to get away.

Using all of her strength, she ran towards the door. Melissa was running after her too. When she grabbed hold of the door, she immediately opened it.

She was expecting it to be Reid. She was expecting it would be him standing in front of her door. It was too late for her to realize as she fell straight into his arms.

Melissa froze by the door and looked at the stranger with so much fear in her eyes. She felt dizzy and her body ached all over.

"Please help me," she muttered to the stranger. She looked up only to see a pair of the most beautiful eyes she has ever seen.

The man's eyes were scanning her from head to toe and stopped on the corners of her mouth where there was blood. He could be someone Melissa knew. He could be one of them. She could feel he is dangerous and yet, she felt safe in his arms.

Then the man looked at Melissa who was still frozen by the door as though she couldn't believe what she was seeing. Melissa looked like he recognized the man but there was something else in her eyes: absolute fear.

"Hello, Melissa," said the man. His voice was calm. "Remember me?"

Melissa couldn't say a word as she stared at the stranger with pure terror in her eyes.

"Y--You--"

"You weren't expecting me, were you? Or rather you forgot what I swore years ago."

She couldn't help but be curious about the man. He sounded like he knows Melissa for a long time.

But who is he? Why is Melissa so scared of him?

The man looked down at her and smiled. The kind of smile that sends shivers down her spine.

"And you, little flower. I came for you," he said.

"For...me?"

"I am going to take you with me," he said as if that was enough explanation. She couldn't say another word as she doesn't know what to say.

Then the man looked at Melissa. Much to her surprise, Melissa kneeled on the floor. She was clasping both her hands in front of her.

"Please spare my life."

The man clicked his tongue and said, "I would spare your life." Melissa's eyes lit up. But then it was gone as soon as it came when the man added, "But you hurt dear Guinevere here when I clearly told you not to tamper my belongings."

Belongings? She couldn't understand what the man was talking about. Is this man worse than Melissa? Had she just traded two monsters for a scarier one? What has she gotten herself into?

She saw the man named Rudy wake up and was looking at them. When he saw her with the stranger, Rudy's face contorted in fury. He was about to walk closer to them when suddenly, his head twisted to the side with a loud crack before he fell to the ground. She couldn't scream when she wanted to. Rudy just fell dead on the floor. Melissa was crying.

Somehow she knew it was the stranger who did it.

But how was it possible?

The man looked at him and her heart thundered inside her chest. Before she could even say something, she lost consciousness.